VIETJET is the latest Asian LCC to offer a higher grade of product with the official launch of its SkyBoss class of travel.

Starting last month, the airline has provided SkyBoss travellers with priority check-in services, free 20kg baggage allowance, priority seat selection, airport lounge access, in-flight meals and flexibility to alter date and time of travel.

It has also tied up with Visa and the Vietnam Golf Association to offer promotional programmes for SkyBoss passengers. Each SkyBoss ticket purchased will also ensure a donation to NPO Compassion in Vietnam, which aims to rescue Vietnamese trapped in the poverty cycle through means such as education.

Speaking at the launch ceremony and quoted in a media statement, Nguyen Thi Thu Bing, deputy general director of Vietjet, said: “The new SkyBoss…adds more to the passenger experience when flying with Vietjet, and was introduced to meet the real demands of our growing number of passengers.”

SkyBoss tickets are now available for purchase on the LCC’s website.

TWO planned rail projects connecting Singapore to its northern neighbour Malaysia will not be operational before 2020, according to the prime ministers of both countries.

Local broadsheet The Straits Times reported that Malaysian leader Najib Razak and Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong held their annual leaders’ retreat in Singapore yesterday to discuss various issues, including a high-speed rail system and MRT connection.

It was announced that the terminus for the high-speed rail linking Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in 90 minutes will be built in Jurong East, in the up-and-coming business area of Jurong Lake District.

The idea was first mooted in 2013 and intended to begin operations in 2020, but a new target date will be announced by the end of 2015. Najib was quoted as saying that the design and tender processes would take one year each, and another five years for construction.

At the same time, the MRT extension into Malaysia’s Johor Bahru is likely to materialise only after 2020 as Malaysia has not appointed a station site.

The idea was raised in May 2010, but the completion date was pushed from 2018 to 2019 as Singapore decided to lengthen the Thomson Line, which will connect to the Johor Bahru line.

At the earliest, the Singapore-Johor Bahru line will be finished by 2020, said The Straits Times.

THE Indonesia Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has detained Jero Wacik, former minister of culture and tourism last night.

Local media reported that Wacik is being suspected of graft at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which he helmed between 2008 and 2011, causing the state to lose seven billion rupiah (US$539,000).

He is also being accused of extortion during his subsequent tenure at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources from 2011 to 2013, and is thought to have pocketed some Rp10 billion.

Wacik had submitted a pretrial motion against his graft status, but it was rejected by the South Jakarta Court last week.

AIR Koryo has upgraded its sporadic charter service between Pyongyang and Shanghai (Pudong) to a regular twice-weekly service that took off on April 26.

The two-hour direct flight is a step up from previous air links between the two cities, which required travellers to change aircrafts in Beijing or Shenyang, in Liaoning province.

According to local media, travellers on the service are primarily Chinese tour groups, with the monuments and sights of the North Korean capital on their itineraries, including the ancient capital of Kaesong, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

While the Shanghai route is explicitly for Chinese tour groups, TTG Asia e-Dailyunderstands that technically if a foreigner in Shanghai joined up on a tour with a Chinese company and passed all the visa vetting arrangements, the traveller should be allowed to fly this route.

Air Koryo is using the Tupolev Tu-204 for the service, which is the most modern in its fleet.

The airline’s elderly fleet has been the subject of safety concerns and was banned from Europe’s skies in March 2006 after the EU found serious safety flaws with its operations.

MANDALAY’S lacklustre performance as a destination is facing further challenge from an incoming supply of small-scale, independent hotels that could increase volatility in the market, according to new research by a hospitality consultancy.

“There’s a complete disconnect between the reality of Mandalay and the development of its hotel sector,” said Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks.

He pointed out that rampant hotel development is coming at a time when Mandalay is being passed over by high-end tourists in favour of Bagan, Inle Lake and the Irrawaddy.

Ministry of Hotels and Tourism data reveals a breakneck pace of development: in 2011, the city had 76 properties with 3,350 keys and by end-2014, this had risen to 135 hotels with 5,586 rooms. New supply in 2015 will see that surge again to 166 properties and 8,747 rooms with another 40 properties due to open next year.

International brands remain thin on the ground with only a handful of new properties entering the market, including Best Western, Pullman and ibis Styles this year, with Hilton due to open in 2018.

Barnett said government initiatives promoting tourism and hospitality had led to a surge in hotel investment from 2011–12, which saw numerous businesspeople from Mandalay, with no prior experience in tourism, entering the market.

“Mandalay is not self sustaining for commercial traffic,” he said. “Look at Vietnam with all the mini-hotels (which weakened overall hotel performance). Mandalay’s biggest danger is creating oversupply.”

Dino Anthonio, general manager of Sedona Hotel Mandalay, agreed that Mandalay as a seasonal destination is suffering oversupply. “Most hotels’ source markets are still from Europe, and these travellers tend to travel between November and February. The length of stay has also decreased from 2.3 nights in 2006 to 1.2 nights in 2014.”

However, hoteliers are seeking to create new opportunities by tapping Asian markets to drive demand, he added.

While a new hotel zone being developed in between the airport and city could counter the wave of smaller hotels currently entering the market, Barnett warned volatility in the market could increase if nothing is done to increase overall tourism demand in Mandalay.

TO GROW inbound Indian traffic, the Philippines is now granting visa-free entry through all airports and ports to Indian travellers who have US, Japan, Australia, Canada, Schengen, Singapore or UK (AJACSSUK) visas or permanent residency.

Effective April 15, the new rule will still allow travellers to stay for 14 days, which may be extended to a maximum length of 21 days.

In 2012, the Philippines allowed AJACSSUK visa holders to come in only via the airports of Manila, Clark and Cebu.

While lauding the new rule, Angel Ramos Bognot, president and managing director, Afro Asian Travel and Tours, suggested the country sweeten it further by granting gratis visas as Japan does.

India is one of the Philippines’ fastest-growing markets albeit from a small base, having increased by 25 per cent in January-February 2015.

Bognot also suggested increasing the tourism marketing spend and further honing the luxury market in India, a strong ally to the Philippines, while reducing marketing in China, which frequently imposes travel advisories against the Philippines and yields mainly mass tourists.

At the same time, he said: “The government should mull granting airlines incentives to revive the Delhi-Manila direct flights, which is crucial to growing inbound from India.”

CONCERNS have been raised about plans by the Guam Visitors Bureau to raise the number of overseas arrivals to two million by 2020.

The 6^th Regional Island Sustainability Conference, held in late April and hosted by the University of Guam, threw up fears over whether the infrastructure of the Pacific island would be able to handle such a large additional influx in tourists.

A total of 1.3 million foreigners visited Guam in 2012, the baseline year used for comparisons at the conference. About 71 per cent,­ or 929,229 arrivals, came from Japan, and South Korea accounted for 14 per cent with 182,829 arrivals.

Governor Eddie Calvo’s Tourism 2020 plan, unveiled in 2014, wants to see 1.1 million Japanese arrivals in 2020 as well as 350,000 visitors from South Korea and a further 70,000 from Taiwan.

The biggest increase will be from China, however. In 2012, a mere 8,939 Chinese visited Guam. In 2020, if a visa waiver programme can be agreed on, that figure is expected to reach 350,000.

The Tourism 2020 plan also calls for the addition of high-end hotel rooms, incentivised reinvestment in the hotel sector, more emphasis on MICE opportunities, extending the average length of visitors’ stays and extending tourism beyond the traditional strip of hotels, restaurants and attractions in Tumon.

THERE will be no expeditions to Mount Everest’s peak for the remainder of the 2015 climbing season as mountaineering companies cancel spring trips.

Eighteen people lost their lives on the world’s tallest mountain after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on April 25 triggered an avalanche on its slopes and razed base camp.

According to AFP, top climbing firms have cancelled their trips due to fears of aftershocks and damage to the route to Everest’s summit.

The news agency quoted two-time Everest summiteer Dawa Sherpa of Kathmandu-based Asian Trekkers as saying: “(There) is nothing in place for climbers anyway… no ropes or ladders… So there is no point in continuing this season.”

US-based International Mountain Guides, Nepalese team Seven Summits and market leader Himex have all cancelled their expeditions.

This follows less than a week after the Nepalese tourism department chief discouraged climbers from abandoning their expeditions, claiming that repairs were underway and downplaying worries of further quakes and aftershocks.

However, the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, the agency that sets the route climbers take up Mount Everest, has yet to rule out climbing for this season, noted AFP.

International adventure and culture tour operators have pledged to stick by Nepal through its recovery, although they say it is difficult to assess how the earthquake will reshape Nepal tourism in the long run.

CHRISTOPH Mueller assumed the role of managing director and group CEO of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) on May 1 and immediately killed speculation that the airline will be offering some of its fleet for sale or lease.

In a statement issued by MAS yesterday, Mueller said: “It is too premature when nothing concrete has been achieved. MAS needs to operate and utilise its fleet at an optimum level besides maximising revenue on the routes it flies. The market needs to give MAS room to explore various options in determining the most viable strategy.”

The airline will explore fleet options to enhance the viability of longhaul sectors as one way to improve business. The Malaysian media last month reported that MAS will suspend its flights between Kuala Lumpur and Frankfurt from May 29.

A report from Bernama quoted MAS Frankfurt director, David Rajkumar Subramaniam, as saying that MAS had revised its network plan with a more regional focus, and strong global connectivity through the oneworld alliance.

But others believe MAS’ decision to stop the route also has to do with competition from Lufthansa, which had increased its Kuala Lumpur-Frankfurt flights from five times weekly to seven times weekly for the Summer season beginning March 30.

Lufthansa general manager Malaysia, Paurus H Nekoo, told TTG Asia e-Daily the move was in response to strong customer demand and that the German carrier will introduce the Premium Economy Class product on this route from June 3 to stimulate further demand.

Arokia Das, senior manager at Luxury Tours Malaysia, said: “With MAS pulling out, we are now dependent on a foreign carrier. With Lufthansa having a monopoly on the route, we can expect fares to increase.”